Paint by Numbers

After I spent a full day in Albuquerque, I moved to the northeast about 50 miles to Cochiti Lake. The lake is an empoundment on the Rio Grande river, created as a flood control device. The US Army Corp of Engineers built and operate a couple nice campgrounds on the lake. I was up far enough that I had a nice breeze, and power for the air conditioner.

The reason for coming here (other than $10 water/elec rate for seniors) was that it was the closest campsite with power to a geoart comprised of 100 mystery caches which depicted the outline of the state of New Mexico.

Mystery caches like these are not located where they're depicted on the map. That makes it easier to create geoart but the caches must be solved to determine the final coordinates. Sometimes the puzzles are difficult, but in this case they were very easy. I did all the solutions before I left home and realized that the caches were all located along dirt roads. Could be easy, could be tough, depending on the road condition.

On the way from the campground to the area with the geocaches, the road passed through La Cieneguilla, a small village that dates back to the late 1600s.

The road was narrow with the houses built very close. Lots of adobe construction, with nearly every house featuring the sky blue window trim.

The majority of the caches were on BLM land that I would call high desert. While is was a very well known recreational area, I saw very few other people - perhaps because it was during the week,

although I did see some four legged muggles who were generally smart enough to find some shade.

It was after lunch with temps approaching ninety degrees when I got into the area the first day. Storms were building but never approached this immediate area. The main roads had good rock (crushed volcanic rock) which looked like it would hold up well to a heavy rain.

I quickly realized that the caches were all the same style which usually made it easier to spot them. I did about 40 of them the first afternoon, including the roughest side road, before it got too hot to continue.

I started at sunrise the next morning, hoping to get done before the temperatures rose and the chance of thunder storms went up.

The side roads could have been dicey, but the storms they'd been having for several days were bypassing the area so the dirt was dry and easy to navigate.

With a self inking rubber stamp, I could often do one cache every 3 or 3 1/2 minutes depending on how close they were located to the coordinates. Usually the coords were very close, but I had a few that were off by 25 feet or more, which would slow me down.

By noon, I had the series done, changing the blue question marks into yellow similes. Even with those 100 mysteries, I still need 12 more to complete my qualifications for a challenge cache near home. Once again, geocaching has taken me to a place I wouldn't have noticed, otherwise.